(Adds I/B/E/S estimates, fourth-quarter details)

Feb 20 (Reuters) - U.S. shale oil producer Concho Resources Inc posted a better-than-expected quarterly profit on Tuesday, helped by higher crude prices, and forecast a 16-20 percent rise in total production for 2018 from a year earlier.

The company estimated capital expenditure for 2018 at between $1.9 billion and $2.1 billion, higher than its 2017 guidance of $1.6 billion to $1.8 billion.

Concho posted net income of $267 million, or $1.79 per share, in the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31, compared with a net loss of $125 million, or 86 cents per share, a year earlier.

In the latest reported quarter, the company booked a benefit of $398 million as a result of U.S. tax changes.

Excluding one-time items, the company earned 66 cents per share. By that measure, analysts had expected earnings of 45 cents, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Concho's average realized price for oil and natural gas for the quarter was $40.18 per barrel of oil equivalent (boe), compared to $34.7 per boe a year earlier.

Total production rose 28 percent to 19 million barrels of oil equivalent per day. (Reporting by Taenaz Shakir in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel)